Gameday Atmosphere: SJE v. FC Dallas May 3, 2008

On TV it sounded and looked better than the atmospheres in Columbus and NE.

How come the Quakes decided to have capacity at 10,300 instead of the originally planned 12,500? Hopefully, they sell out the entire season with that low capacity.

 

Overall, I thought the atmosphere was great. The stadium was packed. The crowd was relatively quiet the first half, but when the Quakes started giving us something to cheer about in the 2nd we really got into it. I was near the Casbah and they were going all game long - good job! I could see the Ultra's at the other end - they had a big crowd, standing the whole game, but I couldn't hear them from my seat.

Two thing I really was happy to see/hear. One, the 'earthquake' effect with feet stomping on corner kicks, and the one side "Earth", other side "Quakes" chant going. Those old standby's are like riding a bike, you get on again after 2 years and it just comes right back to ya.

I had no issues with traffic or parking, but I kinda cheated. I parked on the opposite side of campus, ate a burger at the Hungry Hound and walked across campus to the stadium (like a 5 minute walk). So it was a breeze for me getting in and out.

 

Atmosphere was excellent. I love the small venue. Despite lack of tailgating, Buck Shaw trumps Spartan Stadium. Beautiful pitch, and every seat is good. Looking forward to more games at Buck Shaw.

One major complaint, that I assume will be remedied, was the constant flow of people blocking my view. Why is this taboo at Sharks games, but OK for soccer games??! There is no reason to have a walkway in front of the seats. Note to SJ earthquakes staff: PLEASE BLOCK OFF THIS WALKWAY AFTER THE GAME STARTS OR I WILL BRING MY OWN ROPES TO BLOCK OFF

Thanks

 

It was great to be in a full house. The crowd was a bit reserved until the last 20 minutes or so, then they stepped it up. The goal was all that was missing to top off the night. Much much better than Ookland where it seemed like a road game. The Beckham games will be evn more like road games unfortunately. As TyfSue said in post game thread the staff at Buck Shaw were a breath of fresh air compared to the surly unfiendly baseballers at the Coliseum. After tonight I wish our home games with the scum were in Buck Shaw.

Overall it was a good experience but we can do better, just wait until our first home goal is scored and see the magic thats to come.

 

I agree, I missed most of the first 15 minutes because of this. And those candycorn vendors who come and stand in your line of view when no-one calls em. This might work at baseball games, where nothing is happening most of the time anyway, not at soccer games.

They should have latecomers stand in back until an usher can get them to their seats quickly.

Also please, please, stop letting Dad's stand up through half the game to take pics of their kids, this is a football game not a birthday party. Lots of people were screaming at this asshole to sit down but he and his missus just kepot doing it anyway.

Ultras and Casbah did a great job and if the last 20 minutes is anything to go by Buck Shaw is going to be an electric temporary home, specially if we ever get to score a goal.

 

Yeah, the staff was very very polite. They had been prepped well on that.

They are going to need to do something about the wireless ticket readers. They're cool little gadgets and and they make a cool little noise when they finally read the ticket, but they are just way too slow, and people were backed way up getting into the stadium.

Another problem is that it's very hard to get to your seat when there are people there (at least that was the case on the Alameda side). There really isn't room to walk by, so we had to do some sort of elaborate bench jumping routine to get to our seat.

 

I was up in Section D, over all I had a good time...........took a while for the crowd to get into it.......had a bratt/fries/beer at the Gordon Birsch (sp?) area, pricey but good.....

Is there a home side and a away side? I picked season seats on the west side looking east (my thinking was not having to stare at the sun during the first half) but the east side looked to be a bit more vocal.....hard to say for sure....can't wait for the Columbus game....!

And hats off to the casbah and ultras...........great seeing/listening to them stand and sing all night

 

Buck Shaw sound/scoreboard/jumbotron big screen A

Buck Shaw quality and dimensions of field A

Buck Shaw sightlines from seats at premeir mid and for first 3 rows of Field View in lower level C-

Buck Shaw sightlines from seats at premeir mid and for rows 4-7 of Field View in lower level B-

Buck Shaw sightlines from seats in rows 8-10 of premeir mid and Field View lower section A-

Everyone should get on the front office to get them to make it so they don't have a rail that has such a big impact on sightlines for half of the seats on that side of the stadium. I don't care if they fix that during the season this year or before next season but they have to do something or they are going to loose a lot of revenue next year. Who in their right mind is going to fork over $60 for seats that make it look like you are watching the game from a prison cell. The higher up within the first level you are on the premier/field view side the less obstruction there was from that stinking rail and folks walking around. I now have seats in row 8 (thank god I recognized that the lower rows were going to be a nightmare and got my seats changed last week).

That whole side should have the stands continue down towards the field five to seven more rows so they are allowed to have a rail that isn't required to be so high. Also they HAVE to do something to limit the traffic walking in front like cordoning off each section so that access to one's seats is only from back behind the bleachers except for those that are handicapped or in case of emergency.

 

QFE. The security people did a great job and the crowd was decently responsive, especially on corner kicks. The Casbah looked good from our viewpoint in the Ultras section, and we did a passable job on our end.

I was VERY pleased to find people on our periphery joining in on some chants. People on the edges of 101 and 109, we're begging you: piggy back off of us. We love it, you have fun. Everyone wins.

Can we get Krazy George (or whoever organized the mass chants) to do "Great Taste!" "Less Filling!" instead?

 

Out of curiousity, could people comment on if/how well you could hear the supporters groups and where you were sitting? I'm really interested to know what the dynamics are.

 

In case the SJ earthquakes staff missed my first post:
I accept the sight blocking railings, but the wandering fans (wearing 49er and Giants gear and not even sitting in nearby sections) needs to be addressed ASAP. The platform and and ramps should be for handicapped fans....why is there a constant flow of non watching attendees clogging my view??? Please don't let this happen next week.

 

Forget the minor crap like how fast the ticket readers are. The important thing for me is that I can see the game I paid $35/ticket for. It was really driving me crazy to have people walking in front of me continuously for the first 20 minutes of the game and at regular intervals after that. I was on row 3 of section D, and I was really regretting my season ticket choice. Is it too late to trade out?

 

I was in row 2, and it was pretty bad- especially at the beginning of the game (when people were arriving late and clueless as to where their seats were) and the beginning of the second half (when people were still wandering around clueless that they were at a soccer match which they paid to SIT DOWN AND WATCH. Not only was the wide walkway bad in terms of sight lines and people walking in front you, but people were STANDING at the railing, watching the game... la dee frickin' da. Some were kids, but adults were also doing this! We didn't see any stadium event staff handling this, which is astonishingly bad planning. To top it all off, the aforementioned mobile vendors seemed to outnumber the fans! I've never seen so many vendors walking around at a Quakes game. Some of THEM stopped at the railing to watch the game, too. Unbelieveable.

Having said all that, it was a good atmosphere (if a little subdued in the first half), beautiful pitch, and it was nice to have the jumbo screen to watch replays (especially the ones we missed due to people walking/standing in the walkway).

 

I think it is time for everyone to call their ticket reps and complain. They really need to do a better job of directing traffic through the aisles. It is so frustrating to miss the play cos someone doesn't understand etiquette of letting people watch from their seats, at next game we should all be more aggressive at yelling sitt down to those casual fans who seem to have no clue. I felt like puching this one guy who just couldn't keep his arse on his seat. Whilke it was great to see staff so fiuendly, they need to be a bit more active in directing the traffic.

And please, please tell the sugar vendors to back off and go stand in a location where they don't kill the game for the paying audience. I came to watch a game not 8 pounds of sugar on a stick.

 

I've gone to games since '96, I didn't care for the stadium tonight (section 103)...seat rows are way too close together, too many vendors with giant poles of crap blocking views, new PA announcer is not too good, every line too long, tix/food/drink/souvenirs too expensive. Also, too many rules.

Not that anyone will miss me or care, but I don't think I'll be back for any of the Buck Shaw matches.

 

or if everyone stands, it would be like there is a tiny little catwalk-way between each row.

 

I'd agree with you on most of these points. It seems that they got twice as many vendors as the Sharks game I went too last night, with a crowd of 7 thousand less people.

The PA announcer here and in Oakland sucks (And i'm fairly certain their the same dude.) Dude has no personality, and announces like he has never been to a soccer game or heard of a player before. Can I try out? Seriously. I think I'd do a kickass job. Just don't make me say "And now its time for an Orchard Supply Right Around the Corner Kick."

And yeah, its expensive. But so is everything these days.

 

The one thing that did piss me off is the latecomers. For Christ sake the f#cking ticket says 7pm not 7ish. They stroll in 15 minutes late, give me a break. Also I will agree the vendors need to go, way to many.

 

1906 Ultras could not be heard (nor, obviously, seen) from midfield on the east side but looked and sounded great from the vicinity of the Corona beer tent in the second half. (I think the dynamic is very similar to what I noticed at Kezar Stadium during the exhibition match there.)

Both supporters groups rocked tonight! Well done!

 

I think the fans getting to seats will be less of a problem going forward since now everyone knows whether their seats are and how much time to allot for parking. It was new to everybody and that showed.
However if there are people that think they should get up at minute 25 to go for hot dogs week in and week out, that's going to be bad because the bleachers are too narrow and it's hard to let people out and it really detracts from the game. And I agree.....too many vendors and some cared about squatting out of the way while waiting for money and many didn't and that's bad.
Somehow they have to make it a bit more like a night at the theater, where you find your seats and stay in 'em till half time. And I don't know the solution to aimless wandering but this stadium just isn't even a tiny bit forgiving on that in terms of what walkers by do to the ability to follow the game.

 

Overall I thought it was brilliant tonight. Only one or two quibbles. First I'll agree with everyone else, after the game starts they need to severely limit who can use the front walkway. If you aren't disabled... go up the back stairs. Second, beer gardens may have been a necessity, but they suck. And third, I'm a little pissed I was lied to about the tailgate area prices being "reasonable". 8 bucks for a half sized beer is not "reasonable". I can get 2 six packs for that at Safeway across the street.

But other than that, tonight was outstanding and I can't wait for next week. Feels more like home than Spartan. Don't know if it was our wordmark and logo plastered all over the place, or the intimacy, but it felt "right" to me.

 

We sat in Section D (close to the center line) about four rows from the top.

The Ultras were awesome! Great jumping and moves from the whole section. The various banners they displayed over their heads looked really good. I really liked the chants and songs they did, but as the wind picked up I couldn't hear them well enough. I vote to put microphones on the Ultras to augment the sound!

The Casbah was . . . just like the Casbah! Great to see the same ol' colors, hear the same ol' drums, see them jumping and dancing, but . . .to hear the same ol', lonely chant over and over became monotonous. It would be super to hear a variety of songs from them. From where we sat, no mics necessary since the wind carries their voices across the field.

It's fantastic to see and hear both sections add to the atmosphere. Thanks to all!